Fearing the Unconditional
by Palatial
Summary: For a girl who despises physical attraction, how will she cope with the feelings which tell her otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Gauken Alice.

Summary: For a girl who despises physical attraction, how will she cope with the feelings which tell her otherwise.

Chapter 1: Settling in

She shut the book with a loud "thump" as she cursed under her breath. Love stories do suck enormously, she was only willing to try it because Anna and Nonoko were pestering her so much, but this was the last straw.

"Love at first sight, my ass, why can't people simply say, lust as first sight." mumbled Mikan.

She never really was a romantic at heart, and apparently, life didn't want her to either. However, that was another story. The prime topic at the moment was that their entire friends group, including Mikan, Hotaru, Nonoko, Anna and Sumire were all moving to Chicago to attend their respective colleges. Mikan and Hotaru were admitted after a lot of back – breaking hardwork to the University of Chicago, Anna and Nonoko had earned themselves a place each at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Sumire was going to the Chicago state university. They have managed to lacate an awesome apartment at the centre of the city where they were going to live together. After a gruesome 5 hours of settling in, all of them collapsed, exhausted and aching. As all of them glanced at eachother together from their respective positions, they fell down laughing hysterically, water spurting from their eyes, as they rolled on the paper covered floor.

**3 days from now,**

"uggghhhh" Mikan cried out as the alarm clock screamed persistently at her ear. She had only managed to tur it down and pull the blanket over her head when Sumire snached the covers from over her head and glared at her with her blazing forest green eyes. "PERMY!" shouted Mikan. " You have 45 minuted before your first day at Uchicago begins and your are Permying me?" She said with an eerie calm voice. Mikan eyes popped open as she sat up and ran to the shower at lightning speed. Nonoko snickered behind her and gave a thumbs up to Sumire who sat on Mikan's bed looking extremely pleased with herself, blowing on her recently manicured nails.

As soon as Mikan pulled on a light blue tank top and a dark washed out jeans, they were out the door, sprinting towards the nearest Metro station. From there the group dispersed, Mikan and Hotaru arriving at Uchicago twenty minutes later with only ten minutes to spare. They ran to the information centre to collect their routine and only managed to find their room before the teacher entered.

"Settle down people." Said Professor Beetee.

The two friends slumped on the nearest table that they could find. After breathing heavily for a few minutes, Mikan opened her eyes and scanned the room to find herself locked in gaze with a crimson pair.

**Let the Story begin!**


	2. Chapter 2- Unsettling emotions

**Readers do forgive my lack of information regarding the insides of Uchicago. I have never visited it, but desperately hope to one day. Oh, and Natsume's coming up soon. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen alice.**

MIKAN'S POV

They were blazing red and they were staring pointedly at me. Contrary to the colour, they radiated chills. As I continued staring at them, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I gulped trying to make my suddenly parched throat lose some of its harshness. Hotaru lightly cleared her throat turning my attention back to her, startled, her eyebrows were arched and curiosity lurked behind those deep purple pools. I managed a weak smile and mouther, " fine" to her but I knew that she wasn't satisfied. As I returned my focus, the eyes had turned.

I spent the entire class submerged in a faze where the only concurrent thought on my head were those tantalising crimson orbs. There were something in those alluring crimson pools which tugged at my most inner conscience. I had the sudden and most overwhelming urge to peel back the layers of hidden emotions that resided in those eyes to decipher the truth behind them. Such atrocious thoughts have never plagued my mind before particularly not for a person who I did not even know.

Hotaru eyed me susppiciously as we sipped our ice cold juices,"What's wrong?", she inquired. It was really unlike Hotaru to ask something like that and I knew that I must be seriously acting out of character. " Nothing, must be all the excitement!", I grinned cheekily at her. Hotaru nodded understandingly, I sighed deeply glad that she had not indulged on the matter anymore as I knew that I help no answer to her questions. Unknown emotions coursed through my veins, ravaging my thoughts. I was previously unaware of such inner turmoil, and thus find myself in the situation where i have no ides what to do.

I have never been a person who judges my looks, but I always felt that eyes acted as doors to the soul. It spoke volumes to those who had the ears to hear. I have always been very good at figuring people out, but something continued to be unsettling about those crimson orbs. I have never met eyes whoch were so guarded. It pricked my brains. I audibly shook my head, in a vain attempt to clear my head. Hotaru looked at me as if I had sprouted two heads, and mumbled, "Do that again and that will be the last you see of me!" I snorted, "As if!" Tha corners of her mouth curled upwards, turning that stoic face into an almost amiable one.

My phone vibrated violently, making me cringe. It was from Sumire describing her day as being a "fucked up bitch" which was "screwing her over and over". The visual image was not something I preferred to see. She truly did have a very colourful mouth, and although that was something which I really loved when it was directed at the opposite sex, I really was not in the mood for it right now. I typed a quick "hmm" and said my good byes to Hotaru, as she headed to her "Introduction to electricity" class and me to my " Contemporary Literature" . As I coursed through the packed corridors, for the first time today I began to take notice of the people around me. It was clearly that I was a freshmen as the map dangled from my hand, as I held on to it for dear life which I really did as I had to intention of getting lost in my first day.

Uchicago has highest comfortability rating for freshmen undergraduates, the reason behind which is that the administration is quite strict when it comes to harassing freshmen students, so I noticed people eyeing me, some immaculately dressed people even sniggering at my baggy jeans and unkept hair, but none had the audacity to voice their disapprovement. As I came to the lawn across which lay the Arts building, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was glad my concentration was returning to where it was needed. Half way through the lawn, I noticed a blonde speaking animatedly to a person laying back against a birch tree, whose face was obscured to me by the larse expanse of platinum blonde hair. I snickered at the scenario, questioning myself as to why people refuse to grow up. As the blonde brushed a strand of her hair in an attempt to calm herself, I caught sight of a set of glowering reds.


	3. Chapter 3 - First meeting

**I know many of you are eager for Natsume to arrive, so here we go. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

Natsume was irritated at the shrill voice that was coming out of those thin, parched mouth. It was only about five minutes ago when those lips were glued to his, sucking and nipping on the skin. Natsume had to say, he preferred that to what he was experiencing now. It was obvious that she was exasperated, and bound to be also, since he has been disregarding her advances for about a week now. He really needed to clean up the mess and move on if he did not want to hear the rest of her lecture. After all her, "I thought you loved me", " I can't believe you just used me", " I hate you", and the ultimate striker, " I can't live without you" had ebbed away into an incoherent stream of sobbing and half formulated words, he sat up a little higher and cleared his throat.

"Umm, Natasha...", he murmured.

"Natalie!", she glowered, the stark blue irises constricts in unfathomable fury.

Natsume groaned and said, "You really think I care, look what we had was just a one time thing, okay? So please quit wasting my time, it was getting very dull anyway!" He carelessly untangled her spidery long legs from his own, and stood up brushing bits and pieces of grass from his jeans. Her bottom hit the ground with a low thud, but her wail pierced the morning air with the sharpness of a siren. Natsume winced at the sound, and wondered what was it that made him keep these girls beside him, ah yes, the sex. That's how it has always been and that's how it is always going to be. He strode towards Ruka who stared at him with a wry smile on his face.

"You know, despite you being my best friend, I sincerely wish that there is someone out there who can kick your ass.", Ruka snorted. Natsume snickered, "Oh really, maybe we should call out to her! Come out, come out wherever you are." They both grinned at eachother and made their way towards the main campus.

Mikan watched the entire scene unravel in front of her eyes, as she watched tentatively from the nearby bushes. She watched as the girl continued to sob painfully, clutching on to her skirt with her nails digging deep into her thighs. Calling Mikan a feminist was being soft, it was more like the fact that she felt she had to protect the entire of the female population. For such a thing to take place in front of her, was like setting off a bomb inside her. She got up, in the process scraping her knee, and sprinted towards the turned backs of the two obnoxious male. As she neared them, she quaked out, "How dare you do something like that, that's just plain rude."

Natsume's POV

I turned around, a look incredulity spreading across my features from my darkened crimson orbs, to the thin snear in my lips. "And who might you be?", I whispered. I looked carefully at the girl in front of me. She was small, around 5'3 maybe, with a round shaped face, and large chocolate brown eyes. She had a thin frame, not the willowy type but rather the skinny one. She wore a semi fitted Uchicago t – shirt with knee length quarters. Ordinary, completely ordinary, a face which I would cross in the road a thousand times and still would not bother to look back,except those bright eyes which burned with the zeal of someone who really believes in their cause. Her eyes widened at my question, she then gulped audibly and proceeded to answer my question. Her voice turned out to be squeaky and high pitched at first, gradually mellowing out, as she spoke, " That's not really necessary, now is it? You could have turned her down nicely, you know, you didn't have to be such a jerk about it." Ruka chortled loudly beside me. Her eyes, drifting towards Ruka for a second and then returning to settle more strongly upon mine.

I was amazed by the audacity of this girl, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen her around here before, so she must be a newbee. Did this girl even know who I am, or is it just her hobby to meddle into other people's business? " I don't think that's any of your business.", I told in a monotonous voice. Her brows creased, and her jaw set in a more stern manner. "But you see it is!", she gritted through her teeth. "How so?", I asked in an astounded voice. She mumbled ambiguously about obnoxious boys, and how easily people get smitten with them, and lose their self respect. She took a deep breath as if to steady her mind, and continued, " All I wanted to tell you is that you really are a complete jackass, and nothing gives you the right to treat someone like that. A pretty face doesn't give you the authority to treat people like that!", she spoke the last sentence with utmost vehemence and stopped to take a calming breath.

"And who may you be, the president of Protecting ?", I snarled. Color pooled in her cheeks, as she fought to come up with a retort. "You think girls are some sort of plaything?", she blurted out the first think that came to her mind. "I don't think I know so.", I replied, laughing a humourless laugh. "Well, you're wrong! Don't go judging the entire female population based on the girls you have dated only.", this time her reply was swift. "I thought you were just protecting the girl out there?", I asked, genuinely interested. "No, I was just telling you that you are a jackass who doesn't deserve the attention you are lavished with." With that she stalked off, her arms folded across her chest, her auburn hair flung across her back.

I think life just got a lot more interesting in Uchicago.


End file.
